Appropriated
by chickatita
Summary: Complete. Tony/Pepper. Seized, snatched, stolen, lifted, hijacked, pilfered, pocketed, kidnapped, ...Whatever the word. Pepper didn't like being it. Review please!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Iron Man: Armored Adventures.

I only played with the characters a bit.

--

**Appropriated**

_"Lying is done with words and also with silence."_

_~Adrienne Rich_

--

Pepper took a deep breath before walking into the class room.

'Just one more period, don't lose it.' She told herself. She entered the classroom quietly, trying to draw as little attention as possible. Her efforts were in vain as Happy Hogan called to her from across the room.

"Hey Pepper, did you do last night's homework? Lemme copy!" She mentally swore. "No! Do it yourself."

"What?! Come on! Fine; TONY lemme copy yours!" He countered in outrage.

"Fine, but you'll owe me." A familiar voice answered behind her. She stiffed and turned slowly.

"H-hey Tony." She squeaked.

"Where were you last period?" He demanded with a frown

She was afraid he would ask.

Last period was science and Tony happened to be her lab partner for the day. She wasn't sure if she could handle herself …so she decided to ditch. Saying that she didn't feel well, she hid in the nurse's office for the period. She would have waited out the rest of the day there if the nurse hadn't insisted she either call her dad to pick her up, or get back to class. Her father would have killed her if he found out that she called him away from work because she was faking sick, so she opted to suck it up and go to class.

She began to ramble nervously. "I-I didn't feel well…still don't actually. I would have just stayed and rested at the nurse's but she wanted to call my dad and you know how he gets when I make him miss work, so I just decided to come back to class. I don't know what's wrong. Maybe I ate something funny at lunch; my stomach has been hurting a lot-"

"Okay I get it, Pepper." He said with a laugh. "Fewer words next time." He looked at her a second and she felt uncomfortable.

"You do look a bit flushed…maybe you should go home." He said earnestly, leaning closer to observe her further.

She was speechless for a second. She felt her 'flushed' face getting redder by the second. "I-I…" Whatever she was going to say, she cut herself off as she caught Gene glaring at the both of them. She quickly withdrew into herself

"Nah, Don't worry about me; I-I'm tough you know." She insisted while pulling away and quickly taking her seat for class.

She looked back in time to see Gene start a conversation with Tony, smirking all the while.

Luckily for her, class was uneventful; just some lecture about some big test. She was able to properly wallow in self pity.

When the bell rang signifying the end of class she couldn't have been more thrilled. She had to resist the urge to run out of the classroom as fast as she could- she was supposed to be playing sick.

She only managed to get as far as her locker before she was intercepted by Tony and an awkward looking Rhodey.

"How are you feeling now, Pepper?" Tony questioned with concern.

She wanted to smack her forehead in exasperation. Instead she plastered on a fake smile. "Oh I'm feeling fine. It must have been that disgusting mystery meat in the cafeteria." She lied, rubbing the back of her head and refusing to look him in the eye.

"You should have eaten with Rhodey, Gene, and I on the roof. I picked up a pizza." He said with a smile and a wink.

Normally she would have asked him how he was able to sneak out, if he became Iron man, how fast he was or what kind of pizza...but then she saw Rhodey shuffling his feet. She thought of Gene and that stupid smirking face. She imagined the three of them together up on the roof eating pizza, talking about Makluan rings and other mysterious stuff...

She suddenly felt unbearably lonely.

She let out a forced laugh. "Next time. Listen, I really gotta get going. My dad is picking me up." She turned back to her locker, hiding her face from them.

"Huh? Aren't you coming over?" Tony looked taken aback.

"When did I say that?" Pepper questioned quietly.

"You didn't…I guess…"

He had a right to be confused, it was Friday and she always came over on Fridays. Unless there was some sort of trouble brewing and Iron man had to save the day, they all went out for food and then hung around the lab. It was a sort of mini-tradition. It was an unwritten rule that she came over on Fridays. The fact that she was breaking it bewildered him.

She noticed that Rhodey said nothing keeping his eyes averted, this further encouraged her to lie.

"Sorry guys. I'll catch you later." She trotted off down the hall then, never looking back.

Tony ran a frustrated hand through his already messy hair. "What's with her lately?"

Rhodey placed a heavy hand on Tony's shoulder. "I…might have something to do with it…" He said regretfully.

Tony looked grim. "What did you do?" he questioned seriously.

--

_Did you feel guilty about her sanity?_

_I truly wonder what made you steal_

_So unsuspectingly my life_

_While I was sleeping you pulled the knife_

_Look at me_

_I'm a mess_

_Isn't there anything that you would like to confess?_

_Look at me_

_I'm a mess_

_Isn't there anything that you would like to confess?_

Pepper sighed loudly, mouthing the words along with the sad song that continued to play on her iPod.

Pepper sat on the steps at the entrance to her school, depression hovering over her like white on rice. She had lied about her father giving her a ride, of course. She was worried Tony didn't believe her so she had walked around to the other side of the school to the visitors' parking lot in case he tried to follow her. In doing this, she missed her bus.

"I hate my life!" She yelled suddenly in frustration, she felt tears beading in the corners of her eyes.

"I hate your life too!" A booming voice sounded behind her, effectively scaring her out of her self-pity.

She turned to face a snickering Happy Hogan.

"You scared the heck out of me, you jerk!" She yelled back.

"That's what you get for not letting me copy your homework." He shrugged.

She rolled her eyes as she switched off her iPod and placed it back in her bag. "Don't complain, you got Tony's homework didn't you?" She said and then winced at the effect that his name held over her heart.

"True enough." He was silent for a moment. "So what are you doing _here_?" He questioned innocently.

"I'm walking home I guess. I missed my bus." That was only part of it, but she sure as hell wasn't going to tell Happy about her personal life.

"Alone?" He asked in surprise.

"Nooo; with my imaginary friend, silly." She joked sarcastically. She started to walk down the street towards her house.

"Where's Stark and Rhodey?" He asked, looking at her suspiciously as he fell into step at her side.

"They had plans." She lied again, wow, it was getting easier all the time.

"Then I'll walk you home. A girl like you shouldn't have to walk home by herself." Happy said without missing a beat, oozing with confidence as he marched down the street.

"What?!" Pepper exploded, she was too busy hating her life to deal with Happy being, well, _Happy_. "What century do you live in?! I am perfectly capable of walking myself home, thank you very much!"

"I know that; you live in a dangerous area though, and it's Friday night- the felons are out." He said this with such honest concern she was thrown off.

"Well…that's nice of you…I guess." She gave him a soft smile, her first real one in days.

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "You kiddin' me? Of course I have to walk you home! My dad would teleport here from work and beat me with a wooden spoon if I let you walk home alone!" Pepper laughed, another first for today, as memories came to her suddenly.

She had known Happy since kindergarten and had met his family on multiple occasions. He was raised by the oddest combination of a strongly feminist mother and an equally passionate, conservative father. She could hardly believe it when she first heard of his parents, but despite the odds they are totally in love. Happy also had two little twin sisters that were spoiled to the bone. Between his mother always telling him that women were strong and capable individuals that should never be oppressed by the male frame of mind and his father always insisting that females were pure and precious entities that should never have to work a day in their lives aside from at home and with children, Happy always ended up doing his sister's chores.

Pepper didn't blame Happy for trying to always act the 'manly-man' role at school. She would be sick of women too if she had two bratty little sisters to take care of while she was at home.

"Chivalry aside, don't you have a wrestling match today?" She questioned as she thought about his manly activities. Aside from being the star on the basket ball team, the only thing that kept him in their advanced school, he was on the wrestling team.

"Yeah, but I have time to walk you home and shower before I have to get back to school for my meet. I'm gonna win today-I can feel it!" He said this last part with barely suppressed excitement. One thing about Happy, no matter what he thought about women, he loved sports. Ever since he started in kindergarten, the boy fell in love. Didn't matter the sport, if their school had a team for it, he wanted to play.

"Good luck with that. You've been wrestling for_ how_ long and never won?" She teased lightly, while questioning him in a sing-song voice.

"Five if you count junior wrestling. But really, Pepper, I think tonight is my night!" He cheered in excitement.

"Whatever you say; I'll bake you cookies when you lose so you won't be too upset." Pepper teased again, arching a brow at his unbreakable enthusiasm.

"You'll bake me cookies when I _win _and then I will force you to watch me eat every one of them." He said cockily.

She giggled and promised that she would indeed bake him his cookies, win or lose, as a thanks for walking her home.

A comfortable silence fell between then for a moment, and for once she didn't try to break it. Happy was an easy enough guy to get along with, she speculated that if he was more into science and mechanics that Tony would like to hang out with him more.

Thinking of the young genius suddenly made her feel very sad. Tony would probably rather hang out with Happy than her any day.

"…lonely." She caught the tail end of what Happy was asking.

"What?" She asked in alarm.

"I said; you look lonely." He repeated patiently.

"I'm not alone; you're here." She was quick to assure. They were only about a block away from her house at this point. If she had not been so focused on hiding her feelings she might have noticed the lack of cars on the streets, the lack of children playing, or the fact that the street lights had been shot out.

Happy was quiet for a moment, looking contemplative. "Why are you walking home? It's kinda weird. I mean, normally you hang out with Rhodey and Stark…"

"I already told you." She snapped defensively. "They were busy and I didn't want to bother them."

"Pepper Potts?" A low gravelly voice said from a side alley, scaring them both. This is when Pepper chose to notice that it was much darker out than it should be.

Before she could have replied, two men emerged from an alley and one roughly slammed Happy up against a nearby wall. She screamed in shock.

"Grab her." The gravelly voice said

She took off as fast as she could, taking out her cell phone as she did.

9-1-1

She was connected in an instant.

"911 emergency services." The voice of an unusually calm lady operator answered on the other end.

"Please, my name is Pepper Potts and there are strange men on my street." She cried in a panic. She heard pounding footsteps behind her. "They're coming, they have Happy! Please I need He-!" She was cutoff as a man grabbed her and ripped the phone out of her hands.

"No service needed, sorry to bother you." The man with the gravelly voice growled in the receiver as he snapped her flip-phone in two. He threw it on the ground and grabbed a fist-full of her hair yanking her back toward the two men who were wrestling Happy into a black van.

"Funny; I don't know why I thought it would be harder to capture the daughter of an FBI agent." Then he pulled a small hand gun from his pocket.

"You should come real quiet, baby." He then brought the gun up and smashed it into her head.

The last thing she heard was Happy yelling her name.

Then the word span, she was everywhere and everything. Red swam before her vision, blinding her.

The world then went black.

--

"What the hell is the matter with you?!" Tony roared, grabbing Rhodey by the collar of his jacket and slamming him up against the school lockers.

Rhodey had rarely seen his best friend this mad, and the fact that his anger was directed at him scared him more.

"I'm sorry man, I was mad- I didn't think!" He tried to defend himself.

"I told you I had a copy! I told you it wasn't a big deal! And you told me that Pepper knew that! Why the hell did you lie?!"

"I thought she'd be safer that way…" Rhodey mumbled looking guilty.

"Safe from what?! A jerk like you?!" Tony snarled.

"Don't pretend you don't know how much danger she's put in just knowing you!" Rhodey yelled.

Tony glared darkly at Rhodey, gave him a final shove and released his jacket. Without Tony holding him up, Rhodey slipped down the lockers and sunk to the ground.

"Get up." Tony snapped impatiently.

He obeyed, saying nothing.

"We're going to find Pepper and you're going to apologize…but first, I'm going to find Gene and beat the shit out of him."

--

A/n: Well, opinion? This had started off as a one shot, but it became much too long so I decided to break it up. If you want the rest I need reviews darlings! All kinds please; I want to be a better writer!

Disclaimer: I don't own Look at me by Graziella Schazad (which is an impossibly cute song that always reminds me of Pepper/Tony)


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Iron Man: Armored Adventures.

I only played with the characters a bit.

--

Appropriated

"_The end of an Ox is beef and the end of a lie is grief"_

_~African Proverb_

--

Pepper woke up with a monster headache. She moved to try and touch her head but found that she couldn't. Her hands were bound by thick cords she moved to try and free herself but was surprised when her hand brushed another.

She jumped and yelped.

"Pepper? It's me; Calm down."

As soon as she heard Happy's voice she relaxed a little—at least it wasn't some dead guy.

"Happy…where are we?" She questioned in confusion. She and Happy seemed to be sitting back-to-back on chairs in some sort of ware house, but other than that she couldn't see anything. It was dark aside from a low-hanging light directly overhead.

"I dunno." He said with a blasé attitude. His tone struck her as odd and she had to question him.

"You don't seem too concerned…" She observed.

"Well you got the chance to call the police, right? Then these assholes will get theirs." He said this with such open hatred, Pepper was taken aback.

"What happened? I only remember up until they broke my phone." She struggled to remember but her head hurt too much.

"The big guy whacked you on the head!" He said in outrage. "Don't they know you're not supposed to hit girls?!...Are you okay?" He asked suddenly.

"Yeah, just a headache."

"You sure? There was a lot of blood in the van." He said warily.

As he said this she became aware of the crusted, itchy feeling of congealing blood on the side of her head.

The thought of losing a lot of blood frightened her more than it actually hurt. She whimpered quietly in alarm.

"Just don't fall asleep for awhile— you might have a concussion." Happy warned.

She tried to distract herself by talking. "So where the heck are our captors? They just kidnap us and then dump us in a room by ourselves?"

"They came in and checked on your head once. But otherwise I haven't seen them since the van. They were pretty pissed at you for calling the police though. They were all yelling at each other and wondering what to do."

"Really? You'd think they would be more prepared than that. These guys must be amateurs." She said with a sulk.

"Don't sound so frightened." Happy laughed.

"I'm disappointed; I've been kidnapped by costumed professionals. Anything less now is just a letdown." She said dejectedly, thinking back to when she Gene and Tony were kidnapped together.

She grew sad again.

"I hope no one finds us." She said suddenly, her voice wavering.

"What?! Don't say that! It could jinx us!" Happy said in outrage.

"I mean it! I don't want to be a burden anymore!" She yelled to the heavens. Her voice echoed up into the rafters of the ware house.

"You're burdening _me_ if we're not found! What about my wrestling match!? Today is my day!!"

--

They found Gene in the library, go figure, and Rhodey was surprised to find that Tony did just what he said he would. He trudged up to Gene and without another word whacked him upside the head.

Gene didn't take to this kindly.

"What the fuck is the matter with you?!" He roared straightening up immediately and grabbing Tony's collar.

Tony mirrored him grabbing Gene's collar back. "What the fuck is the matter with _you_?! Why are you harassing Pepper?!" Tony snarled.

Vicious and obvious hatred shown clearly on the young genius's face and it frightened Rhodey. He wasn't sure when his friend had begun to care so much for Pepper, but at the moment he couldn't help but question whether it was good for the young man.

Gene actually started laughing at Tony's words.

"That's what you're throwing a hissy fit about? Well don't be mad at me, you're the one who pushed her away. Don't blame _me _just because you got dumped by you're girlfriend."

Tony glared at him and said nothing but tightened his grip on Gene's collar.

"Think about it; what could I possibly say to her that would make her avoid you? I just said 'Tony hates you— you're such a bother, but he's too nice to tell you himself.' And you and Rhodey did the rest."

Rhodey cringed at his callous words. But it was the truth; Gene acted as he always did. He did everything that they could have expected from him. Tony was oblivious to the entire situation, so the blame for Pepper's separation rested solely on his shoulders.

"I was mad, it didn't matter to me if it was true or not. She doesn't like me anyways, why should she believe me unless you guys actually made her think that you hated her?" Gene continued blandly.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! Don't you care about her feelings?!" Tony roared shoving Gene away as if he were a disease he could catch.

"I need you guys to help me find the Makulan rings. I don't need Pepper. She's your friend, not mine. Don't be mad at me for your mistakes." He said seriously before picking up some books from the library and leaving the school.

Tony stared after him for a moment, trembling in rage before he stomped out the door after him and started home. Rhodey followed sadly, guilt written clearly over his face.

"Tell me exactly what happened, right from the start." Tony demanded with a growl.

--

"So what's with you and Stark lately?" Happy questioned absently while plucking at the ropes that bound them.

Pepper, needless to say, was surprised at his question. "What do you mean?"

"Well you've been a walking graveyard…and Gene and Rhodey have been raping Stark up the ass." Pepper gagged at his word choice, but commended him on his astute observation.

"Come on, you can tell me." He continued. "Did Gene confess his undying love for Tony or something?" She snorted with laughter.

"Your intellect never ceases to amaze me." She replied, her tone thick with sarcasm.

"So what happened?"

She sighed before answering. What else could she do trapped in a warehouse?

"I messed up, Happy, and it was way worse than usual."

"Worse than the time you blew up the science lab?" He questioned in awe.

"That was an accident! ...and this was too, sort of…"

"Sorta?"

"I heard Gene talking on the phone, saying that he 'had them fooled' and 'he'd get the info he needed'. I thought that he was talking about his research with Tony…so I acted without thinking, and…"

"Messed up?" Happy offered gently.

"Big time." Her voice was full of regret. "I basically ruined three months worth of research. Gene was pissed."

"So that's why he looks like he's got an even bigger stick up his ass than normal!" Happy joked, trying to make light of the situation.

"Yeah...." She took another deep gulp of air and seemed to force herself to continue. "I was wrong. He was talking about some spies in his father's company that he was working on finding the leader of."

"Oh…Well, that sucks. I'm guessing that Rhodes and Stark weren't happy?"

"Rhodey definitely wasn't…and I'm sure Tony wasn't either. I mean, why wouldn't he be?"

"You don't sound sure."

"Well…he didn't yell at me like Rhodey…and he didn't try to kill me like Gene…he just went on like nothing happened…he just ignored me…like he didn't want anything to do with me." Happy could clearly hear the hurt in her voice.

She continued without prompting. "I tried talking to him, but he'd always be busy or say that he would get back to me later. I tried asking Rhodey about it…but he didn't help. Then I asked Gene and he told me that Tony hated me."

She sniffed quietly and though he couldn't see her, Happy could tell she was crying.

"So I stopped trying." She finished sadly.

There was a short silence between them filled with nothing by Pepper's quiet sniffles.

"You know," Happy began unsurely. "If Stark doesn't like the fact that you're a walking trouble magnet, then he was never your friend in the first place."

"Thanks, Happy, I feel loads better now…" She snapped bitterly.

"I'm just saying it's who you are. If he doesn't like it, than he ain't a friend you want."

Her sniffling quieted. "Thanks…that's unrealistic, but sweet."

"I just think you're wrong."Happy stated matter-of-factly.

"Excuse me?" He could hear the glare in her voice.

"Look, I know that I don't know him that well…but Stark ain't the type of guy who gives up on a challenge." He batted her bound hands with his own. "And hanging out with you seems right up his alley—it's definitely a challenge." He laughed easily and Pepper found herself joining in.

"I think you got the wrong idea. He must be 'Pepper-proofing' his stuff or something." He chuckled.

"I doubt it; he knows nothing can be Pepper proofed." She joined in his laughter.

"Really?" A third voice interrupted, startling them both. "Nothing can be Pepper proofed?" The gravely voiced man stomped up to them and untied Pepper's ankles from the chair and yanked her upward.

"What about Pepper herself? The boss wants to know if you're as untouchable as Mr. Fix made you sound." The man growled this in her ear as he caressed her face as delicately as a lover's touch.

Pepper felt her blood run cold. Her stomach knotted in disgust.

Happy called helplessly after them as she was dragged out of the room by the large man.

--

It all started a few days ago.

Gene, Tony, and Rhodey had been working on a breakthrough in the history of the Makluan rings.

They had found some ancient text in a large library. Pepper wasn't much for history, research, or even that interested in the rings so she was primarily left out. She tried to be helpful, but she always ended up getting in the way. So she usually ended up sitting in a corner and listening to her iPod or something else that would keep her out of trouble.

But even then no one could stop her from being herself.

Tony and Rhodey had left early to take care of some Iron man worthy crisis and asked her to deliver some new documents to Gene at the school library. She did so with a sort of sad resignation, feeling bummed that she wasn't much more than an errand girl these days.

She was just outside the doors to the library when she heard Gene talking on a cell phone.

"Yeah, I have them right where I want them now…no they don't suspect a thing…I'll dispose of them as soon as I get all the information I need from them." He hung up the phone and walked out of the room.

Pepper hid around the corner before he spotted her, her eyes wide with excitement.

Gene was a spy! He wasn't really their friend; he was using Tony and Rhodey!

This was better than anything she could have hoped for!

In her haste to take action and prove her worth she made an admittedly hasty and stupid decision.

She hacked into Tony's computer and deleted all the information they had collected working on the rings with Gene. She then proudly marched up to Gene and told him that his plan was ruined because she had gotten rid of all of their research.

She would never forget the look of inhuman rage that he gave her as he lunged at her and grabbed a fistful of her red hair.

He shoved, yanked, and generally manhandled her into his limo and then roared at the driver to take him over to Rhodey's house.

She was sure she had lost a good chunk of her hair by the time he shoved her out of the limo and dragged her by the scalp to Rhodey's front door and rang the bell.

Rhodey answered, first looking confused. His looked turned into one of shock at seeing Pepper kneeing by Gene's side in tears as he held a fistful of her hair and had her wrist twisted behind her back.

Gene shoved her in disgust at Rhodey. The house was suddenly filled with roars about what Pepper had done and what he should do to her.

Rhodey had been mad at Gene at first but his anger turned on her as Gene told him she had deleted all of their research.

She tried to defend herself and tell Rhodey that Gene was part of some secret plot against them, but Gene nearly smacked her upon hearing this.

There was no plot against Tony.

She had misunderstood.

"You stupid bitch! You are useless! You deleted months of research based on hearing one conversation!?" Gene had roared.

That was nothing compared to Rhodey's completely disappointed and frustrated words.

"What's the matter with you, Pepper!? Why do you always do this stuff?! You know we worked hard on that research! I guess you wouldn't care; we worked everyday for months while you sat and did nothing!"

She could only thank God that Tony wasn't there to yell at her too. If this was painful, hearing it from him would kill her.

When she was too hurt and embarrassed to take their insults anymore, she bolted and ran home.

They undoubtedly told Tony. She couldn't even bring herself to text him for fear of what he would say.

Rhodey did call Tony from his lab and together, he and Gene told him what Pepper had done.

Tony laughed.

Rhodey was barely able to hold Gene back as he lunged at Tony trying to strangle him.

"Don't you care that months of research is gone because that bitch deleted everything?! Your dad's work too! Don't you care!?" Gene snarled at the bewildered young genius.

"No." Tony had said simply. "Because she didn't; I always back everything up on separate discs incase something like this happens."

Gene and Rhodey both looked dumbstruck at this.

"Geez, how dumb do you two think I am?" Tony had argued, annoyed.

As he absorbed this information, Gene composed himself. With nothing else to say he took his leave with a huff.

Rhodey couldn't help but notice the fact that he had to brush stray hair from his shirt and pants.

_Red_ hair.

A cold and slimy feeling suddenly formed in the pit of his stomach.

"Did you forget that I did that Rhodey? Why were you so upset?" Tony had asked innocently, unaware as he was of Gene and his own verbal assault of their female friend.

"I…I guess I did…" he said thickly.

"Well Gene seemed pretty mad; I hope he didn't kill Pepper… though it would be quiet for a change." Tony said this jokingly, but Rhodey wasn't amused at all.

Then an idea came to him. A mean and cruel idea, but one that would make things quiet permanently.

Don't tell Pepper.

"I guess I better call and tell Pepper…she was pretty embarrassed about it…maybe you better not bring it up with her." Rhodey tried to say this carefully, casually.

"Yeah? But it is pretty funny; it would be so much fun to tease her." The young genius answered looking gleeful at the prospect.

"_Don't!"_ That came out sharper than he intended but Tony didn't seem to notice. "She probably feels stupid enough as it is…so don't bring it up…ever."

Tony looked confused. "You sure?"

"Yeah, I know girls man…better than you at least." He tried to joke, but it came out stiff and fake.

Tony frowned but didn't question him further.

Later that night, after Tony had his shower, he told him he had called and told Pepper. He said she was indeed embarrassed and had warned him never to speak of this incident again if they wanted to keep their tongues. He even went so far as to say that they better watch what they say for the week or she had promised she would exact her revenge.

All lies.

But Tony readily trusted him and did what he requested.

It turned out that Rhodey needn't bother anyways. Pepper wasn't in school for the next two days. When she did come back, she apologized for acting irrationally, but spoke nothing more of the event.

Tony accepted her apology but refrained from talking with her too much based on Rhodey's suggestion that he should give her some space.

He and Gene both kept Tony busy with research and other requests, effectively cutting off his usual contact with Pepper.

Pepper made a few suggestions to hang out but after Tony had to turn her down a couple times because Gene or Rhodey had his attention, she gave up. She was too afraid of hearing Tony say the same things to her that Gene and Rhodey had.

In her weakest state she came to Rhodey, too afraid of getting hurt to confront Tony directly.

"So Tony hates me? He…you…you guys don't…want me around anymore?" She had asked, practically begging him to tell her that she was wrong.

"He…doesn't hate you, Pepper." Rhodey said carefully. "He just thinks it would be better for all of us…if you stopped coming to the lab." He tried to convince himself of the same thing. It was much better for her to stay home and not be put in danger. Tony would thank him if he knew what he'd sacrificed to keep her safe.

Pepper, unable to accept this at first went to Gene in desperation.

"Of course he hates you! Rhodey does too; they're both just too nice to say anything! Can you blame them? You ruined all of his father's life work." Gene had said this with a cold laugh, while awarding her with his meanest and most condescending smirk. "I hope you've learned your lesson."

For whatever reason, hearing it from Gene made it true. So she cut off all ties with Rhodey and Tony against her hearts deepest wishes.

She got a job in the cafeteria during lunch so she wouldn't have to see them. She changed her seating choice for classes she had with them. She stopped meeting with Tony on the roof during her free period. And if she absolutely had no other choice, she ditched the class.

Not seeing Tony especially killed her, though she couldn't really explain why.

She had her heart broken without ever knowing she was in love.

--

A/N: So there it is…what do you think? I know I'm bound to get a few flames because I made Gene a bad guy. I thought his reaction was semi realistic though, I mean think about it. Gene _would_ flip a shit. Well anyways, gimme reviews! They are my blood!! Pwease?


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Iron Man: Armored Adventures.

I only played with the characters a bit.

--

Appropriated

_"A lie can get halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on."_

_~ Winston Churchill_

--

"So as mad as I am at Gene for saying that stuff to Pepper, it isn't his fault. It's mine." Rhodey finished guiltily.

Tony said nothing for a moment, seeming to absorb all of this information.

"I should probably call Pepper over here right away and apologize if she'll accept it." Rhodey said getting out his cell phone and dialing Pepper's number.

"I was stupid too…I mean I knew something was up…but I guess I thought it was safer if she stayed out of the Makluan ring stuff too." Tony said finally.

"So should I call her?...or are you suggesting…that we…don't tell her?" Rhodey questioned helplessly.

Tony was silent for a moment, unable to come up with the answer himself.

He knew what he wanted; he wanted to tell Rhodey to call Pepper over right now and tell her that they had lied and that he wanted her back by his side immediately…but was that what was really best for her?

If she was unhappy but safe would that really be okay? Or is it better that she be put in danger but be free to do as she pleased and help with 'Team Iron Man' as she had affectionately dubbed them.

It was a decision that shook him to the core and forced him to question his most base morals.

It was also one that he would never get the chance to make.

The alerts on his police scanner went off and drew their attention to the map that had suddenly appeared on the screen. He and Rhodey rushed to the monitor and stared getting their bearings on the situation.

Business as usual…except it wasn't.

"Computer, hack into radio systems." He told the monitor seriously already heading towards the armor. Pepper would have to wait because Iron man was needed again.

The voice of police officers suddenly echoed around the lab.

"It looks like we have an abduction of two underage youths, we got a call about an hour ago from a cell phone and her Parents have since been located and contacted. We were able to obtain this short message before the line was cut off…"

A static-filled, but hauntingly familiar voice suddenly filled the lab.

_"Please, my name is Pepper Potts and there are strange men on my street."_

The voice was higher than normal and clearly panicked, but it made Tony's heart stop all the same.

_"They're coming, they have Happy! Please I need He-!" _Her plea for help was cut off rather abruptly by a deep, masculine voice which seemed to shake to monitor.

_"No service needed, sorry to bother you." _The static suddenly became unbearably loud and seemed to explode out of the speakers. Rhodey and Tony had to cover there ears. It was soon drowned out by an even louder metallic crackling. Then it all very suddenly stopped and for a second the silence was even for deafening than the noise.

Then the police radio kicked back in.

"So we have an address?"

"No, but some neighbors saw an unfamiliar vehicle in the area before the time of the call and there has been a substantial amount of blood found at the alleged scene. The best we can do is question everyone in the area and see if we can't track the vehicle."

At the word 'blood' Tony had the immediate feeling that the bottom dropped out of his stomach. He felt as though he would be sick. This answered his question for him—he saves Pepper and begs for forgiveness.

He stumbled drunkenly towards the doorway to the armor. He closed his eyes as he felt himself being slowly encased in metal.

He was out of the lab and landed in front of Pepper's apartment before Rhodey even came online in the controller chair.

"Tony slow down; we don't know what's going on."

"Oh, have you not been keeping up?! Pepper has been kidnapped and it's our entire fault!" Tony snarled into the receiver. "If she had come over like she was supposed to, than this wouldn't have happened."

Police officers came to his side at that moment so he muted Rhodey's response.

"Iron man, what are you doing here?" The senior officer asked.

"I got a call and I came to help; It's kinda what I do." He replied with no small amount of sarcasm.

"It's just a domestic dispute; nothing we can't handle." The officer replied, and gave Iron man a prideful glare.

Rhodey's audio line beeped impatiently and Tony switched it on with reluctance.

"Tony, don't get the cops mad at you or the city might start suing you for damages." Rhodey warned angrily.

Tony ignored Rhodey and turned away from the officers and started scanning the crime scene.

He was immensely frustrated to find that there really was nothing to find. He was hoping it wouldn't come down to the blood, but it did. He scanned it warily and was upset to find that it did indeed belong to Pepper. Aside from the big puddle there was a small trail of it leading up to the side of the road, to a place where a dark van might have parked.

It was parked on the right side of the road, towards the north. He relayed this information to Rhodey.

"And there's nothing else?" Rhodey demanded.

"I told you I scanned the entire area; there's nothing—" a certain shine caught his eye. He walked to a dumpster down an alley next to Pepper's apartment building.

Pepper's phone lay at its base, snapped cleanly in two.

That gave him an idea.

"Rhodey replay that police message!" He said, taking off suddenly flying into the air to hover over the city.

Tony fast forwarded it to Pepper's phone call.

_"They're coming, they have Happy! Please I need He-!" _Tony stopped it there.

"Did she just say that 'they have Happy'?" Rhodey asked, quickly catching on to what Tony was thinking.

"Think Hogan would have his phone?" Tony asked as he quickly put in a command to the computer to dial Happy Hogan's cell phone number.

--

Today was his day. He just knew it! He had to escape.

He glared over at the guard that now stood by the door. He had come in after they took Pepper away and had said nothing since. Happy had tried to antagonize him into attacking or something, but the guy remained stubbornly frozen in his position by the door. He didn't talk. He didn't move. He barely breathed. He could have been a statue for all of the life he displayed to happy. But he had to find a way to sneak past him, rescue Pepper from what ever they were doing and get to his match—he had to. Today was his day!

Before Happy could further contemplate this; his cell phone went off. The song 'Stronger' by Kanye West started playing from his pocket and was not quiet.

He swore at his bad luck and scrambled to try and grab it out of his shorts. This was proving especially difficult considering the fact that his arms were tied behind him and his phone was in his front pocket.

The guard turned for the first time and walked towards him.

Happy squirmed and scrambled enough to actually snatch it out of his pocket. He started pushing buttons quickly and was able to actually activate the speaker phone.

He wasted no time from there.

"Help! Whoever you are, help! They have me and Pepper tied up in a ware house!" He howled quickly, not letting the caller get in a single word before his guard snatched the phone from his hand and calmly turned it off as if nothing were out of the ordinary.

Then without warning he kicked Happy's chair out from underneath him so Happy landed painfully on his face. His rear end was raised embarrassingly in the air because he was still stuck to the chair. He felt like a jackass. But at least he had answered the call. There was the creak of old wood as Happy struggled to right himself in the chair. A small, but sharp splinter bit into the delicate flesh of his wrists.

That was all they needed, Happy was confident.

Today was his day, it had to be enough.

--

It was.

In those few short seconds Tony was able to track his cell phone signal to what ware house Happy was talking about.

He took off at full speed pushing his boot jets to their limit. Rhodey had to remind him not to blow all of his power on flying alone. He almost ran into a few buildings and low-flying air crafts in his eagerness to get there. Only one though was on his mind.

_'Wait for me Pepper, I'm coming.'_

--

The man with the gravelly voice led her down a long, dark hallway that she was completely blind in. He shoved her impatiently when she was only able to manage a slow, stumbling pace due to her lack of sight. They finally came to a room lit only by a series of large computer screen monitors that nearly filled the room. In front of each of these monitors sat a man clothed in similarly dark clothes as their captors.

"Pepper Potts?" A tall man in the corner of the room called to her. She couldn't help but notice that though this man seemed as unextraordinary as the others in the room, he sat in a large and fully cushioned chair and had a large gun balanced on side of it.

He gave her a friendly smile and gestured her over to him. Her captor shoved her roughly towards the man but did not dare venture close himself. She stumbled and fell right at the base of the large chair. She was also uncomfortably close to that gun.

"Oh my, aren't you the clumsy one." He said with a playful chuckle. He had spiked white hair and a completely lazy demeanor. But he was no slouch; he was built like a body builder and looked as big as a giant even from his seated position. It wasn't those things that scared her though; it was his babyish face and excited black eyes which frightened her. They had a cruel look to them, like a child torturing ants with a magnifying glass.

"Who are you?!" She demanded angrily, putting up her toughest front.

"Well my men call me 'Boss'…" He answered in a sing-song voice. He reached down towards her from his throne— it was a black, leather, lazy-boy, but Pepper could not think of it as anything else. He grabbed her around the waist and, despite her protests, pulled her into his lap. "…but you can call me 'Big Daddy', I'd like that."

"Make me!" She snapped angrily, trying to squirm out of his grasp.

Before she could even blink, that large gun was off the floor and pressed against her already wounded head. "As you were saying?" He sang cheerfully.

She stayed silent, frozen with fear.

He pulled the gun away with a giggle. "Don't worry dear; I wouldn't use that on you. I'm saving this for whoever comes after you."

"Whoever…comes after me? Why?" She questioned weakly, not able to get the slight tremor out of her voice.

"You want to know the real reason?" He asked giddily, leaning close like they were best friends. "I can't stand Mr. Fix."

She looked at him blankly and he giggled some more. "Now, I know you know who that is, because he is the reason I kidnapped you…well the first reason at least."He said this last part with a smooth and sultry tone that was in no way innocent. He adjusted her on his lab so she was straddling him, she tried to squirm away but his arms were like steel.

He continued on like nothing had happened. "I hate Mr. Fix so much that I do the opposite of whatever he suggests. He suggested to all of his clients that everyone steer clear of you because you were 'untouchable'." He ran a hand up her thigh to cup her butt firmly. She yelled and jerked away bucking and squirming for all she was worth, this would have been infinitely easily if her hands weren't still tied behind her back.

"But I'm touching you now, and nothing is happening." He said with a smirk. He used his other hand to reach up and grab the back her neck pulling her face down close to his own. "Now tell me, Pepper dear, who exactly does Big Daddy have to look out for?"

There was a deafening crash and the windows overhead suddenly seemed to explode and glass showered everywhere. The floor cracked and caved inwards spreading out from the center of the room. Men screamed and cowered, covering their heads from the falling shards of glass. In the center of all of this chaos was an all too familiar red and gold suit of armor that she knew and loved.

"Iron Man?…interesting." The Boss said this while sounding no more bothered than if a bee had just flown in the window.

"Me." Tony, though it was only she who knew it was Tony, growled. "You have to look out for me." He glared at the two of them while standing up to his full height. "And I suggest you listen to your pal, Fix's warning if you want to keep your hands."

"Of course, of course; anything for Iron man."The Boss laughed and released Pepper's backside and neck to quickly reach behind him and grab the big gun.

"Look out! He's got—!" Her warning came too late as he had fired it before she could even finish. There was another explosion as dust kicked up everywhere and when it had cleared there was nothing but a pile of ash where Iron man had stood.

"…Is that it?" The Boss demanded in disappointment. "I expected a little more fight in him than that." With his free hand he grabbed the back of Pepper's neck and yanked her back down to him.

"Still… having Iron man on your side must make you pretty important…" He said in that silky smooth voice, licking his lips as he did. He pulled her hips back down and began grinding himself against her. She cried out disgust and shoved at his chest desperately, tears spilling rapidly from her eyes as she did so.

"No!" She yelled. "Iron man!"

"Come now! Don't be ridiculous, he's gone. Now, you will submit to me! " He said this with a delighted chuckle as though her tears just spurred him on.

"I don't think so." The large hand that had grasped her neck was very suddenly plucked away at the same time The Boss's large gun was lifted away.

She looked up in time to see the weapon bent and warped beyond recognition by none other than her favorite hero.

"Geez I can not believe you fell for that smoke screen trick. I expected a little more intelligence than that." Her hero openly mocked.

A crimson hand gently lifted her off the chair before punching the boss with all its metal might. He flew across the room to slam against the wall unceremoniously. Iron man then proceeded to bend the warped metal of the gun around the Boss's legs and wrists effectively hog-tying him next to his throne.

None of his lackeys came to his aide; apparently he wasn't much of a leader.

Cool metal hands reached behind Pepper and snapped her rope bonds with ease. Then, without warning Iron man spun her around and scooped her up bridal style. She gasped in surprise and was speechless for once. He marched out the doorway down the pitch black halls.

"Happy is around here somewhere, right?" He asked.

She nodded before she realized he might not be able to see her clearly so she said 'yes' quietly.

About halfway down the hall he stopped totally and set her on her feet in front of him. She was confused for a second but before she could ask him what he was doing he had wrapped his large, metal encased arms tightly around shoulders pressing her to his chest. She was squished to the point of being uncomfortable, but Pepper couldn't help but think that even covered in cold metal, he was infinitely more gentle with her than 'Big Daddy' had been.

"I…I saw the blood and… I thought…" He choked suddenly; he could not bear to voice his thought.

She blushed and even though inch-thick armor separated them she thought she could feel his warmth. "I'm okay…" She said gently.

"What about your head?" He demanded, and with infinite tenderness, he reached up and brushed back the short curtain of blood-crusted hair that covered the gash she had gotten. "Which asshole did this? If it was that Boss guy I'm going back there and giving him what he really deserves!"

He didn't hate her; Tony wasn't this good of an actor. How could she ever have believed Gene? She was the one who didn't even like him! Happy was right, for once.

His fussing warmed her heart and for the first time in a week, she felt happy.

Before she could lose her nerve, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and stood on the tips of her toes to reach up and place a feather light kiss on the metallic chin of his armor. Though he couldn't really feel it, she hoped he got her message.

"I'm fine. Thanks for everything…and always…" She trialed off and looked down, suddenly embarrassed.

There was a metallic whir, click and without warning her lips were captured in tender kiss. An armored hand came up to lovingly caress her cheek, instantly cooling her burning face. She leaned into that hand as they broke apart.

"Fewer words next time, Pepper." Tony smiled at her awed expression before he replaced his face plate and scooped her back into his arms.

"Now, we have to find Happy." He announced with sudden determination.

They didn't have to look hard for as they went a little further down the hallway a door suddenly burst open and a man in black, one of the Boss's lackeys, flew through it and slammed hard against the wall.

"What now, bitch!?" Happy roared, flexing his muscles victoriously as he emerged from the doorway.

He looked rough. His face was bruised and his nose was bleeding; but the lackey lying in crumpled heap on the floor looked worse, much worse.

He looked over at them in mild surprise. "Iron man? What are you doing here?"

"I got a call and came to help; It's kinda what I do." He said with more than a little boredom in his tone. "What's with everyone asking me that today? Can't you just accept the help?" He joked.

"Well sure; get me to the Tomorrow Academy! Today is my day and I can still make my match!" He demanded urgently before licking his bleeding wrists and wiping them on his basketball jersey.

"Are you still on about that?!" Pepper cried in outrage. "You're alive, be grateful! You'll live to see other days!"

"No! Today is MY day! Days like this come only like once a year! I can't waste it!"

Pepper rolled her eyes as Happy climbed onto Iron man's back. She had offered to ride there as well to make flying easier but Tony had flat out refused. He claimed that to do that she would have to hold on to Happy and he would never force a lady into such a compromising position.

Happy laughed like a Hyena, but didn't argue.

She rolled her eyes but was too pleased that Tony was jealous to really fight.

--

Pepper popped another chocolate chip in her mouth and hummed happily as it melted on her tongue into its sweet and creamy liquid form.

"That was your fifth chocolate chip. Why don't you let me lick the spoon, at least?" Tony whined from his position from the couch in the living room of Rhodey's house.

"Because I no longer trust you. You sabotaged my last batch."

"I don't know what you're talking about. That was a mistake." He scoffed.

"You mixed up sugar and salt. No genius could make that mistake." Rhodey inserted with a laugh

Tony glared at his friend before he turned back to the TV in a huff. "I don't see what the problem is; Happy would still have eaten them." He grumbled.

"Jealously is unbecoming of you, Anthony Stark." Pepper giggled.

"I was raised an only child of a filthy rich family and never went to school a day in my life before high school." He rose from the couch to sneak up behind her and wrap his arms around her waist and growl in her ear. "I don't share." He silently delighted in her shudder.

"Why are you baking Happy cookies again?"

"Because the coach withdrew him from his match for bleeding." She said simply, gently knocking his hands away as he tried to dip a finger in the cookie dough she was mixing.

"That's something to be celebrated?" He asked dryly.

"Yes it is."

"I don't understand why." He grumbled.

"I don't expect you to; it's far beyond your intellect." She stuck her tongue out playfully at him. He wished he could capture her lips again but he stopped himself as Rhodey walked into the kitchen. He pulled away from her slightly unwillingly and helped Pepper form the dough into gelatinous balls which would eventually become cookies.

They filled two cookie sheets, so there would be plenty extra for themselves, and Pepper placed them carefully in the oven.

"Finished!" She tossed her oven mitt towards the counter where it smacked against the bag of flour, which tipped over, spilling everywhere. It was suddenly as if a small smoke bomb went off in the kitchen, everything within a three-foot radiance of the bag was suddenly covered in flour.

This sadly included Tony and Rhodey who were leaning against the counter next to the bag.

They both blinked in shock and looked blankly at one another's flour covered faces.

"Oh my god! I'm sooooo sorry! I'll get a wet towel right away!" She rushed towards the bathroom down the hall before pausing in the doorway and bursting into laughter. "Wahahahaha! You guys look hilarious! But it's not funny…I'm very sorry." She put on a somber face before turning and running down the hall. They could hear her laughing all the way from the bathroom.

Tony sighed before grabbing a paper towel and beginning to wipe up all the spilt flour. Rhodey followed his lead, but not before turning to glare at the young genius.

"Do you ever get tired of cleaning up after Pepper's messes?" Rhodey had meant it as a rhetorical question but Tony answered all the same.

"Nope." He smiled fondly as Pepper walked back into the kitchen with a cheesy smile and a digital camera in hand.

"I love it."

--

A/n: Numero duo for ya! How do ya like me now? So yeah, check out my other IMAA story called Nightmares—if you haven't already. It's all new and edited like.

Thanks to all of those of you who reviewed and stuck with me. I heart you guys! I'll be back, you can't get rid of me that easily!

Review! If you do then perhaps you shall receive a cookie…or perhaps not. You will only see if you review!! Everyone counts!


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